Be careful what you put on the Internet, whether or not Big Brother is watching

It's one thing to use the Internet to help vet job candidates, or to ask job applicants to sign non-disparagement clauses, or to take an employee to task for embarrassing their employer online for the whole world to see.

But recent reports of employers asking job candidates for their Facebook password during job interviews are another matter altogether. The practice is invasive, borders on coercion, and has earned justified reactions of disbelief and indignation on and off the Internet.

That some employers are now asking to root around what many regard as personal and private communication conjures up Orwellian images of prospective employers breaking into your home, sorting through your mail and digging through your trash.

While those in positions of public trust -- officers of the law, political office holders, guardians of our national security -- merit increased scrutiny, the vast majority of people have every right to keep their private and professional lives separate, even if some of them choose to share details of their private life with a circle of online friends.

That said, regardless of employer practices, it's social media users' responsibility to monitor what they post online and who they share it with. Facebook and other social media sites can, and have, with little to no warning, changed how their privacy settings work. And while it's your duty, media user, to stay on top of these changes, no amount of mastery over your account's privacy settings can prevent you from posting things you just shouldn't post.

So think long and hard before you let off some steam about your job or carp at your significant other or share those photos from last night at the bar. With, possibly, the whole world. For, possibly, all time. The Internet has a long memory. Use common sense.